Discipline Disparities for Black Students and Students with Disabilities

This report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office examines (1) patterns in disciplinary actions among public schools, (2) challenges selected school districts reported with student behavior and how they are approaching school discipline, and (3) actions Education and Justice have taken to identify and address disparities or discrimination in school discipline. Findings show that black students, boys, and students with disabilities were disproportionately disciplined (e.g., suspensions and expulsions) in K-12 public schools, according to GAO’s analysis of Department of Education national civil rights data for school year 2013-14, the most recent available. These disparities were widespread and persisted regardless of the type of disciplinary action, level of school poverty, or type of public school attended.

U.S. Government Accountability Office (2018). K-12 education: Discipline disparities for black students, boys, and students with disabilities. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Accountability Office. https://www.gao.gov/assets/700/690828.pdf

Suspensions Unequal Between Races

According to this study, 28.3 percent of black males, on average, were suspended at least once during a school year, nearly three times the 10 percent rate for white males. Black females were suspended more than four times as often as white females (18 percent vs. 4 percent). “As the number of suspensions for kids of all races and all grades has risen dramatically, the gap between suspension rates for blacks and whites has more than tripled—from about 3 percentage points in the 1970s to more than 10 percentage points today,” said Daniel J. Losen.

Losen, D. J., & Skiba, R. J. (2010). Suspended education urban middle schools in crisis. Bloomington, IN: Civil Rights Project. https://civilrightsproject.ucla.edu/research/k-12-education/school-discipline/suspended-education-urban-middle-schools-in-crisis/Suspended-Education_FINAL-2.pdf